Review 1 of "Shame and Justice: Partners of Individuals on Sex Offense Registries Encourage Policy Reform"

Vote: Publish pending minor changes

[For votes to count, referees must reasonably explain why they voted as they did. Thus, please explain your vote. If you voted to publish pending minor changes, specify each change, why it is needed, and, possibly, how it should/could be done.]

Well written and provides a nice overview of the voices of family members of registrants, who are a hidden and marginalized population. Methodology is appropriate, though more info about what sources were used to begin the snowball sampling would be helpful – advocacy groups?

[Please put additional info below, as/if you see fit.]

There are a few other papers you should read, integrate, and cite in the into & discussion: Look for Danielle Bailey (disenfranchised grief); Douglas Evans (Shame and blame); Gueta K (2017) The experience of prisoners’ parents: A meta-synthesis of qualitative studies. Family Process 57(3): 767–782.

Since the questions were about what they want policy makers to know -I hope policy makers read this. I found myself wishing, however, that the quotes were more personal in sharing their personal stories, describing the effects of registries and restrictions on their lives, as well as the psychological impacts of SORN.

The paper was well done and focused on an important and understudied issue; this it is somewhat original.